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Struggling to Decompress with The Overwhelm

Welcome to this week’s Marketing for Romance Writers MFRW 52- week blog challenge topic What I Do to Recharge. We all get run down. Sometimes quicker than that cheap battery in the back of the cupboard you thought was still good. Although usually when I do it’s after trying to keep up with that weird, drum beating rabbit as it mocks my lack of energy by spinning in circles. Some days I can easily surpass that pink fluffy tailed bunny without breaking a sweat.

But other days, I can barely catch him even though I’m dancing as fast as I can to keep up with the pace of life. That’s because there’s something dragging me down quicker than a carb loaded meal—the overwhelm.

Recharge Recap

I’ve talked about methods I use to relax when I need to rejuvenate my muse, or clear my mind. How riding on the back of the hubs motorcycle brings my muse to life, or pedaling away my stress on the back of a bicycle in the heart of the woods. How I go all out of whack if I’m not writing and the escape a good movie, or a book and a glass of wine makes my mind mellow.

The problem is, sometimes I can’t just stand up at the office and declare that I’m going for a bicycle ride to relax, or that I’ll be right back after a shot of tequila.

Also, in order to recharge, first I need to decompress.

The Overwhelm

I call it “the overwhelm” because in some ways it’s like an entity of it’s own. It creeps in and slowly sticks it’s tentacles in while I remain

Scruff displaying how the overwhelm looks in my mind.

unaware until it’s too late. Then I suddenly realize EVERYTHING that I need to do.

The list is so complex and overwhelming it’s as if the mind loses the ability to sort out the tasks to complete them. My mind feels as if it’s buzzing similar to this depiction of woman’s vs. men’s brains.

The tasks become one big burden that I carry around, slumped over under their weight convinced the possibility of spontaneous combustion or human explosion is imminent. I consider crawling back in bed to avoid having to face all that must be done. Things that seemed doable before, now seem impossible.

I envision the overwhelm’s evil laugh as it sees victory within it’s grasp. I’m paralyzed to move forward or progress because I’m too busy focusing on everything instead of narrowing it down to one thing at a time.

Take Baby Steps

Everybody has a lot of stuff that needs done every single day. If we wrote down every task that we needed to do to complete the day—brush teeth, coffee, get dressed, coffee, eat breakfast, etc.—the list would be overwhelming and feel impossible. Even though some of the tasks are simple.

The only way to defeat the overwhelm is to not look it directly in it’s

Scruff depicting the overwhelm’s ogre eye.

ogre eye. Consider all the bigger tasks that need completing in the same way and take little steps to complete them.

Perhaps these steps can help you beat the beast that drains your inner battery.

Conquering the Overwhelm

This is one time to avoid the big picture. Instead focus on one task at a time so you don’t see the overwhelm peeking around the corner at you. (The overwhelm hates to be ignored. If you do, sometimes it just goes away.)

Make a to-do list and celebrate each completion. Heck, if it makes you feel better write down simple things just for the joy of marking them off. Make To-Do List.(The overwhelm isn’t nearly as scary when you dissect it on paper. It prefers to live in the deep recesses of the mind.)

Organize and de-clutter your workspace. Having a workspace with papers scattered all over the desk and sticky notes stuck onto every available space is like vomiting the overwhelm from your mind onto your desk. (The overwhelm can be tamed by corralling the hot mess it’s created from.)

Writing or journaling about your stressors can minimizes them. (We are writers, the pen is our mighty sword to battle the overwhelm! )

Remember that sometimes what’s overwhelming and avoided are good things. The fear of failure can be paralyzing.

14 thoughts on “Struggling to Decompress with The Overwhelm”

I’ve been keeping a prayer journal for two years now, and that’s VERY relaxing! We had an unusual amount of stress/tension in our house last week, and the combination of angry karaoke plus taking a day trip with my oldest son helped:)

Oh yes! I’ve never given it a name, but there are times when I feel utterly frozen. I have so much to do, I can’t even figure out where to start. Breaking it down into bite-sized pieces helps a lot. Great post.

I’ve not journaled since I was a kid.
Giving that all consuming stress a name is smart. It allows you to be very detailed in how you make an attack plan as you laid out in your post. I’ve never been one for to-do lists, but think it might help me when trying to organize all the different aspects of writing.

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